Augustine Amoako
Many investigations seek to search computers for evidence of a crime only. The computer might contain business records relevant to a white-collar prosecution. In criminal case, for the law or legislation to be applicable to a particular fact or situation, there must be a seizure or a search and seizure accompanied by an attempt by the prosecution to introduce what was seized as evidence in court. Whether there was a search or seizure within the meaning of the law and if so, whether the search or seizure violated someone’s constitutional rights depends on the nature of the interest that the law protects. When electronic storage media are to be searched because they store information that is evidence of crime, the items to be seized under the warrant should usually focus on the content of the relevant files rather than the physical storage media. The aim of this research is to give rudiments overview legal issues and challenges of searching and seizing hardware and software as evidence for prosecution in Ghana. Also, the study draws a legal survey on how law enforcement seeks authority to search and seize broad class of information as evidence. It is importance for law enforcement agencies, especially the computer crimes units or the cybercrime units to have an in-depth understanding to establish various methods and procedures that can be used to conduct search and seize of electronic evidence.